Discover real ways to make money online in South Africa. I now earn R26K–R35K/month in passive income but it started with a R10 bank balance, and being scammed borrowed money.
I was broke, unemployed, and had just completed my Grade 12. Like many others, I searched “ways to make money online in South Africa” and found a lot of misleading information. That led me to invest in Amabhanoyi (aka Ponzi schemes), hoping for quick cash. Sadly, I was scammed out of nearly R1,000 money I had borrowed out of desperation.
In this article, I aim to share my experience and ideas for making money online, acquired over the years of doing online jobs. I will categorize them based on the skills or investment required, ranging from those requiring significant skills or investment to those needing none. All of these ideas are suitable even for teenagers, and students looking for ways to make money online.
Top 10 Ways To Make Money Online In South Africa
The internet is full of money-making opportunities, even if you’re starting with just a phone and no money. Here’s a simple breakdown of the best ways to earn money online in South Africa, from advanced to easiest.
- Selling Online Course
- Forex Trading
- Dropshipping
- Freelancing
- Virtual Assistance
- Sell Digital Products
- Content Creation
- Affiliate Marketing
- Social Media Promoter
- Online Surveys
Whether you’re looking for a quick side hustle or a long-term income stream, there’s something here for every skill level, every budget, and every lifestyle.
Now that you’ve seen the big picture, let’s break down each method so you can choose the one that fits you best and start your journey to financial freedom today.
10. Start An Online Course
Online courses have become a powerful way to share knowledge, gain new skills, and even make money. If you’re knowledgeable about a subject or passionate about teaching, creating an online course can offer a chance to reach a wide audience and make a real impact. However turning your skill into a successful online course requires careful planning, and a bit of understanding video editing and packaging
Requirements to Create An Online Course
- Platform to sell your course e.g Teachable and Udemy
- Equipment to record and edit your course (Smart Phone & CapCut)
- Plan to promote it
Remember that an online course can take time to build success so patience and ongoing improvement based on learner feedback and market trends can help. Here is a simple guide to creating a successful online course
9. Learn Forex Trading
Forex trading has become the most popular way to go from broke to rich amongst South African Youth. Since trading has a low entrance barrier most people misunderstand it and think it must be also easy to start making money with. I blame the forex gurus that promote that idea, “FYI” Trading is the hardest way to start making money online
Steps To Learn Forex Trading
- You can learn trading either from a Mento or YouTube
- Practice the strategy you learned
- Then start small with areal account
- Once you see consistent profits you can move to prop firm funding
Trading teaches you to control your finances better. By learning to trade you also acquire a career because if you build a solid portfolio you could be hired to trade a private equity, but it takes time and effort to get to that point. Here is a beginner guide to trading.
8. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is an online store business where you don’t need to keep products in stock. Instead, when you receive an order from a customer, you purchase the item from a third party (like a wholesaler or manufacturer) and have them ship it directly to the customer. The best part is that everything is automated not done manually.
For example, on your store, you can list the sale of an R1.5K smartwatch then when someone purchases the watch you take R1K and buy a watch from a retailer (aka Supplier) then R500 is your profit. This means you don’t have to worry about storing inventory or handling the shipping process yourself.
Requirements For Dropshipping in South Africa
- An E-commerce Platform or Website like Shopify
- A Supplier
- Payment Gateway
- Marketing and Promotion Strategy
- Legal Understanding (Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, etc.)
- Shipping and Delivery from your supplier
- Financial Management (Tracking Income and Expenses)
Dropshiping is the best way to open a business shop with lower upfront costs and less logistical hassle, but it also comes with its own challenges, like finding reliable suppliers and managing customer expectations. Hers is a beginner guide to Dropshipping
Although there is an alternative way of Dropshipping called Dropselling, I believe Dropselling is easier compared to Dropshipping. With Dropselling you don’t need a website. you just need to get people who want to buy a product and someone who is selling the product, then buy from the seller and sell it to the buyer. Use platforms like Facebook marketplace.
7. Freelancing Jobs
Freelancing has been around for decades people quit their 9 to 5 jobs to become full-time freelancers because it allows them to be their own boss. But it’s not easy to get started especially, if you join a highly competitive freelancing platform like Upwork. Also having a high demanded skill will help you a lot.
Website For Freelancing
To become a freelancer you only need a skill that can be done online, No certificate or degree is required but having one can improve your credibility to get more gigs. “Gigs are freelancing jobs offer”.
If you believe you don’t have a skill that you can provide as a freelancer, don’t worry there are so many skills that you can learn in 1 to 3 Months and use them as a freelancer to earn yourself money. Here is a Freelancing beginner guide to help you get started.
6. Work As Virtual Assistance
COVID-19 had a significant push on the idea of working at home, which gives rise to virtual assistance jobs. There are fewer people doing Virtual Assistant jobs maybe it’s because you need to be multi-language speaking (in most job offers).
Virtual assistance is where you can be hired to help customers on a particular business in any part of the world. While sitting in your house, that is the beauty of working as a Virtual Assistant
Getting Started as a Virtual Assistant
- Figure out what services you’re skilled at providing
- Showcase your abilities with an online portfolio that displays your work samples, client feedback, and a professional bio.
- Set up a comfortable home office with the essential tools, such as a computer, reliable internet, and necessary software.
- Establish a strong online presence through social media, a personal website, and platforms like LinkedIn.
Advertise yourself on Websites like Upwork, Freelancer, and specialized Virtual Assistant job boards that can help connect you with clients looking for your services.
5. Sell Digital Products
If you weren’t living under a rock, you’d remember the NFT trend from 2021, when the most expensive NFT was sold for a whopping $91.8M. This was a stepping stone for the digital products market to grow. By having a hobby in art, music, or writing, you are on the right track to make your first $100 from selling digital products.
Platforms To Sell Digital Products
It’s important to select a product that aligns with your expertise and passion. This will make the creation process of the product you are selling enjoyable and also help you stand out. Here is a beginner guide to selling digital items on Etsy
4. Become A Content Creator
Content creation has taken me out of poverty, I was struggling financially and I personally know more than 11 people who are each making a living off as a content creator in South Africa. I started creating content in 2019 and it is never too late for anyone to start creating content as a side hustle or full-time.
Am saying this because I know you will make excuses like “It’s already too late to start content creation“
Get Started as a Content Creator
- Choose Your Niche or Focus
- Set Up Necessary Equipment
- Create and Edit Content
- Choose Your Platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Blog, etc.)
- Establish a Posting Schedule
- Use Relevant Hashtags and Keywords (SEO)
- Engage with Your Audience
- Monitor Analytics and Adjust Strategies
- Stay Consistent and Persistent
Ways to monetize your content and earn money
- YouTubers: from ads, sponsorships, and merchandise.
- Instagram: sponsored posts, merchandise
- Podcasters: ads, sponsorships, and merchandise
- TikTok: sponsored posts, merchandise
- Blog: Ads, sponsorships, and merchandise, guest posting
Here is a full guide on how to become a content creator, on any platform any niche.
3. Start Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has been around for many years, some people even say Affiliate marketing is over-crowded but I disagree. Affiliate marketing is still a good way to start making money online. Personally, I hate affiliating physical products, I believe starting affiliate marketing through digital products is the easiest route to take.
Also, there are other forms of marketing like CPA marketing which is a type of Affiliate Marketing where you can earn money even if people don’t buy anything (earn money just through people clicking your link).
Start Affilaite Marketing
- Choose Niche
- Join an Affiliate Network e.i CJ Affiliate
- Select the Offers you want to promote
- Get traffic
I have been doing Affiliate Marketing myself for a while now. But as a beginner, I would recommend you to start with CPA Marketing since it does not require you to have a website to get started or to be accepted by Affiliate networks
2. Become A Promoter
When I talk about becoming a promoter am not talking about being an influencer but it’s something similar. The difference is that as a promoter you only need to find a company that is running a promotion. It can be a sign-up and earn, share and earn, or post and earn.
Sign up with the company and follow their set rules on how to earn on the particular promo currently available with them. Join our Facebook group to get updates on new Paying Promos
1. Earn Money Doing Online Surveys
Aside from all these methods of earning money online ranging from Affiliate Marketing, Dropshipping, and Investing/Trading, doing surveys is the easiest of them all since no skill or investment is required to start earning.
With Online Surveys, you simply create an account and start generating money but you need to know which survey app or website is worth it.
5 Best Survey Websites to Earn Money In South Africa
Online Surveys offer you a chance to share your opinions on different topics while earning money for your time spent. So technically the only thing you invest is your time
Here are the high-paying survey websites in South Africa you to try if you are really serious about earning money online.
Conclusion
The best side hustle to make money online is selling online courses, getting into forex trading or dropshipping, freelancing, and content creation.
The options seem endless but just to summarise if you are new to making money online start with The easy methods is doing surveys or becoming a content creator
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